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Free New Computer & Screen to a Good Home

Lenovo Computer - Grants Pass, OR

As a partner with Lenovo and Intel, I have been given the opportunity to give one of my clients (or perspective clients) a brand new computer and workstation as pictured above. It contain a new memory cache chip from Intel that they would like some feedback on, so the company that accepts this will have to fill out a survey and be on a single phone interview. The computer will be used with the cache enabled and disabled to see the difference the chip makes. Once the testing is done the computer is FREE to keep.

I would like to give this computer to a well deserving non-profit or struggling business that would benefit from a technology infusion. This computer is suitable for normal office work. I will include free setup of the computer to help get them connected properly. I will decide who gets the computer at the end of March 2019.

Please contact us with ideas on who could best use this free new computer.

Shopping for IT Services?

IT Services Savings - Grants Pass, OR

I was chatting with my son who works for a large local company who contracts with a local Managed Service Provider to help with their IT needs. Due to a clause in their contract they are now locked into paying over $15,000 per month for IT services for the next three years. This includes $300 per server (they have 5 of them) and $70 per workstation (they have over 100 of them) plus some other mysterious charges for the network. Personally I think that this is outrageous.

Here at Farmhouse Networking we do not believing in locking our clients into a contract. Our IT services are always month to month so that if either of us are dissatisfied with the relationship then we can easily end things with no obligations. Our services are also reasonably priced due to keeping our overhead low – we charge $65 per server and $25 per workstation plus a small per device charge for other network devices. That is a mind boggling 280-460% savings over the local competition. For that large company that would be a realized savings of somewhere between $9,600 and $11,700 per month – enough to hire several new employees or purchase new equipment to increase production.

If your company is looking to keep the costs of IT services down and keep more working capital for true business needs, then contact us for assistance.

Our Phone Number is Changing

Business Class Phones - Grants Pass, OR

With the recent addition of VoIP phone service and internet phone service for current phone system owners, we here at Farmhouse Networking have decided to “eat our own dog food” as the saying goes by changing our phone number over to use the new VoIP phone system ourselves. So here is what to expect:

Phone System Features:

Texting: Those of you who are used to texting in for quick responses will no longer be able to do so. I will still have a cellphone and be able to answer calls from the field via the phone systems Ring Group feature, but I will changing the phone number for my cell phone.

Desk Phone: When in the office, we will be answering our Polycom VVX310 desk phone which has HD Voice for clearer call quality.

Messages: Any time a message is left on our new system, the phone system Voice to Text feature will transcribe the message automatically then send an email into our ticketing system with a copy of the audio also attached. This then becomes a ticket – this feature will increase responsiveness and accuracy in handling your requests.

Holidays, Nights, & Weekends: The phone system has been setup to recognize specified national holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. It also has Time Frame setup with business hours between 9am and 5pm on all weekdays. When outside these business hours or on holidays the phone system will be answered by our Auto Attendant system. This will give the option to leave a voicemail to create a ticket or agree to after hours rates to start an emergency call. Please see our Terms & Conditions for more information.

Thanks for always looking to Farmhouse Networking to serve your company’s IT needs.

If your company is looking to upgrade your current phone system feature set or reduce overall costs of phone service, then contact us for assistance.

HIPAA Compliance Insurance

Ran across a startling statistic the other day that HIPAA audits are up 400% and that an amazing 94% of them end in failure. So what if you could have HIPAA compliance insurance that placed a professional team of former auditors in your corner? Farmhouse Networking is partnering with the Compliancy Group, a nationally recognized and industry leading HIPAA compliance software company, to provide our customers with peace of mind. So how well is your organization prepared for an audit? Take a look at the following checklist:

HIPAA Compliance Checklist

After looking over the checklist, if your company is looking to get completely HIPAA compliant without all the headaches, then contact us for assistance.

Small Business Information Security: The Fundamentals

CyberSecurity

NIST is the National Institute of Standards and Technology. It acts as the defacto baseline that all other security and compliance organizations use to construct their standards. Reading their publications is like reading any other government document – extremely long and not interesting. Farmhouse Networking recently became aware of one such document called NISTIR 7621 aka Small Business Information Security: The Fundamentals. We took the time to distill out the main points here:

The Fundamentals aka Best Practices

Identify: Who has access to the network, who has access to the data, and what do they have access to. This includes background checking employees during the hiring process, taking an inventory of data to see who needs access to what, requiring that each user have their own login, and company policy creation.

Protect: Protection starts with separating data into shares then giving access only to those who really need it. It also includes protecting hardware with uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and protecting software with regular updates. Protecting the network includes setting up a proper firewall, separate wireless for guest access, and VPN only access for remote users. Web filtering, SPAM filtering, file encryption, proper disposal of old equipment, and employee training are also mentioned.

Detect: Having a centrally managed antivirus software on each workstation is a must. This includes the ability to look back in time via log files or monitoring system to find the root of the security breach.

Respond: Have a disaster recovery plan and security incident response plan in place.

Recover: Need full backups of all important business data, invest in cyber insurance, and regularly access your technology to find timely improvements.

If your company does not meet these fundamentals, then contact us for assistance.

Hundreds of Gigabytes of Data Lost in Attacks Targeting Managed Service Providers

Hacked - Grants Pass, OR

“In a new stunning example of the scale and sophistication of online cybercrime, just before the holidays, DOJ charged two hackers with stealing hundreds of gigabytes of data—including sensitive intellectual property, confidential business data, and personal information from companies and government agencies around the world—as part of a multi-year cyber-espionage campaign that targeted managed service providers (MSPs) directly, bypassing the protections of client systems. This indictment is the latest example of the U.S. government’s use of the criminal justice system to crack down on state-sponsored economic espionage.

As alleged in the indictment, the hackers belong to what is believed to be an elite, Chinese government-sponsored group known within the cyber-security community as Advanced Persistent Threat 10 (APT10). The targets of the hacking campaign included companies in the aerospace, health care, biotechnology, finance, manufacturing, and oil and gas industries, as well as U.S. government agencies, such as NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy.”

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=1068fd0a-8388-4453-aa7b-6872a5c96536

Anatomy of the Breach

The indictment alleges that APT10’s MSP Theft Campaign began in 2014 and involved three stages.

  1. The hackers gained unauthorized access into the MSPs’ computers and installed malware allowing APT10 to remotely monitor the computers and steal login credentials.
  2. The group then used these stolen credentials to move laterally into each MSP’s network and the networks of their clients, further spreading the malware infection.
  3. APT10 identified data of interest on these compromised computers and created packages for exfiltration using encrypted archives, allowing the hackers to move the data from one system to another before ultimately transferring it to APT10’s computers.

This sort of breach calls into question the operating procedures of MSPs everywhere, their security practices, and moral compass. If IT support staff are not trained in best practice and cannot keep from being infected via websites or emails, then what business do they have managing larger network systems with sensitive data.

If you are unsure of your MSPs practices and would prefer a company with transparency, then contact us for assistance.

Benefits of a Cloud-Based Phone System

As small businesses change and grow, the ability to quickly scale up — or down — becomes a necessity. Adding new employees, for example, requires the company to adapt its phone system to accommodate the need for more lines.

That is harder to accomplish using traditional on-premise telephony systems due to higher setup and maintenance costs, the need for hardware on-site and reliance on IT support. A cloud-based phone system, on the other hand, would enable small businesses to manage communication services in a less costly, more streamlined and agile manner.

Benefits of a Cloud-Based Phone System

1. Fully-Integrated Communications System

Business tools that operate in the cloud are easy to deploy, enabling employees to stay connected whether they are in the office or on the go. In this way, the cloud provides a consistent business presence and helps to increase productivity with seamless access to CRM tools, email, instant messaging, voice and videoconferencing.

2. Control Over Modes of Communication

A cloud-operated system puts businesses in the driver’s seat, allowing them to pick and choose what features they need, with access to turn them on or off easily. Also, cloud solutions give employees anytime, anywhere access via a smartphone, desk phone or softphone to all their calling features.

3. Top Line Business Features

A cloud-based phone system would give small businesses access to the types of network applications that one would typically find at larger corporations. These include features such as a Virtual Assistant, Auto Attendant, Never Miss a Call or Call Center solutions.

4. Mobility and Ease of Use

Today’s workplace is increasingly mobile, and small businesses especially need to be able to operate from multiple locations. With a cloud-based system, small business employees have access to features that allow them to log in from anywhere so that they can be reached while on the go, giving customer-facing and revenue-producing employees greater control over their productivity.

5. Time Management and Efficiency

Web-based customer portals enable IT staff to manage their system more efficiently. With insight into the installation, service configuration, trouble tickets, training, billing and call analytics, this full access to a customer’s system and account allows them to spend fewer resources on project management and focus more on work that adds to the bottom line.

6. Flexibility to Scale Up (and Down)

As a business grows, so does the need to hire new employees, open new offices and onboard new customers. This requires a communications system that can scale up — or down — as the need arises. With a cloud-based phone system, businesses can add as many extensions as they need to accommodate heightened call volume, or, if necessary, simply call in to deactivate these extra extensions. Unlike traditional systems, businesses only pay for the extensions they need for as long as they need them.

7. Business Continuity

Working with a phone system “in the cloud” allows businesses to remain connected to their customers no matter the environment. A cloud-based communications system is likely to be unaffected by outside factors such as severe weather or other issues that may keep employees from getting to the office.

8. Improved Customer Service

With the Virtual Receptionist (VR) or Auto Attendant feature, businesses can easily direct calls to various departments and even create greetings unique to a given department. For example, a business could set up a holiday greeting in advance (via the administrative portal) and pre-set it to revert to the non-holiday greeting on a specified date. It could also add an on-hold message about special promotions or commonly asked questions.

9. New Service Features Added Easily

During busy seasons, some businesses will add premium calling features to increase call-taking efficiency and maximize staffing. Call Groups, for example, allow incoming calls to ring on multiple extensions. Call Queues provide a “dynamic waiting room” for callers that let businesses customize the on-hold experience and better manage call volume. Both help to decrease voicemails, missed calls and busy signals, enabling service to as many callers as possible.

10. Cost Savings

Cost savings are another benefit of cloud-based phone system.  Moving telecommunications off of PBX platforms and to the cloud can be less expensive relative to monthly service rates versus that of a traditional system, helping to reduce costs and, ultimately, increase profitability.

If your company is looking to reap the benefits of moving to the cloud, then contact us for assistance.

Anatomy of a Breach

Read an amazing article published by Microsoft detailing the roadmap a hacker uses to breach a computer network. You can read the full article here:

https://cloud-platform-assets.azurewebsites.net/anatomy-of-a-breach/

Summary of a Breach

Phase 1: Break-In: Hackers are still using phishing emails, bad passwords, social media links, and poorly patched systems to make their way in with the initial infection. Employee training is the first step towards preventing breaches for 9 out of 10 companies now (and it is included in the price for all our monthly clients).

Phase 2: The Inside Man: Once inside the hacker will scan the network for further vulnerable systems, employees with more access rights than they need, and systems that allow access into other parts of the network. Having systems in place that detect strange or malicious activity are key to stopping an infection in its tracks.

Phase 3: Spread Out: This is where the hacker has all the access they need and start to find the data that is worth selling. Hackers will usually start moving data to places it doesn’t belong on the network then downloading it to their computers for resell. This is where strong access policies that are clearly defined and enforced make the greatest impact to protect sensitive data. 

Phase 4: The Long Con: Once a hacker has taken all they need for the short term payout, they will setup remote access back doors to allow for future access whenever they want to. It almost pays to assume that a breach has already occurred and continually scan the network for these kinds of activity to catch the hackers in the act.

Take the time to read this article, it is a wake-up call on security.

If you would like to learn more about creating an effective cyber defense strategy and mitigating risk, then contact us for assistance.

What is Your Personal Information Worth on the Dark Web?

Dark Web Scanning - Grants Pass, OR

The dark web is often known for the illegal activities conducted there, and while not everything on the dark web is illegal, it’s most appealing factor is its anonymity. The dark web is often a place where stolen data and personal information is bought and sold following a data breach or hacking incident. An article on Experian takes a look at what your personal information is worth on the dark web and how you can help protect yourself from being exposed.

How much is your information worth to an identity thief on the dark web?

Social Security number: $1

Credit or debit card (credit cards are more popular): $5-$110

With CVV number: $5

With bank info: $15

Fullz info: $30

Note: Fullz info is a bundle of information that includes a “full” package for fraudsters: name, SSN, birth date, account numbers and other data that make them desirable since they can often do a lot of immediate damage.

Online payment services login info (e.g. Paypal): $20-$200

Loyalty accounts: $20

Subscription services: $1-$10

Diplomas: $100-$400

Driver’s license: $20

Passports (US): $1000-$2000

Medical records: $1-$1000*

*Depends on how complete they are as well as if it’s a single record or an entire database

General non-Financial Institution logins: $1

Note: Prices can vary over time and prices listed below are an estimation and aggregation based on reference articles and hands on experience of Experian cyber analyst the last two years.

How are criminals purchasing this information on the dark web?

Information can be bought and sold a variety of ways on the dark web, however the most common include:

  1. Purchasing data as a single item, such as a Social Security number.
  2. Purchasing bulk data, such as batches of the same information.
  3. Purchasing bundled data containing various types of information bundled together.

The cost of personal information on the dark web fluctuates, but what is responsible for the change?

The four main factors driving the cost of personal information on the dark web include:

  1. The type of data and the demand for it. The cost often depends on the type of data and the need or ability to use that data.
  2. The supply of the data. If there is less data available for a cybercriminal to purchase, the value of that data increases.
  3. The balance of the accounts. The higher the balance in the stolen account, the higher the cost of the data. The balance could be the amount of money in a particular account as well as points value (i.e., a loyalty account).
  4. Limits or the ability to reuse the data. If the data being purchase can only be used once, the value of that data is worth less to a cybercriminal than data that can be reused multiple times or across various platforms

How can you protect yourself?

Data breaches are becoming increasingly common and are often outside of your control. It is important to help minimize your risk of a hacker gaining access to your accounts by utilizing healthy password practices and by keeping your personal information private unless it is absolutely necessary to share.  Keeping antivirus software and all other software up to date will also play a crucial role in protecting your information, as these updates could contain security patches to fix potential vulnerabilities that could expose your information.

It is also recommended to run a dark web scan on your email address, utilize a dark web monitoring tool and monitor your credit report for potential red flags that your identity may have been compromised.

If your company is concerned about information leakage or breaches, then contact us for assistance.

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Plant a Seed 541-761-9549
233 Rogue River Hwy #873 Grants Pass, OR 97527
Mon-Fri: 9:00am-5:00pm
support@farmhousenetworking.com
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